The 2010s represent what is in many ways the pinnacle for Hawkeye in Marvel Comics from a creative standpoint. The 2012 comic book series pairing Clint Barton and Kate Bishop, written by Matt Fraction and drawn by David Aja, was commercially and critically successful and has been the single biggest influence on the new Hawkeye MCU series from a story and design standpoint.
The decade also provided many other great comic book issues for both Clint and Kate beyond the 2012 run. Both characters took part in major events that are likely to be adapted into the MCU in some form. Some of their best comic book issues of the 2010s set up even bigger and better futures for Hawkeye in the years ahead.
Old Man Hawkeye #1
Old Man Hawkeye #1 introduces one of the best versions of Hawkeye in the comics and one of the few surviving Avengers in a bleak alternate timeline. Building off of the Old Man Logan comics, it's a great new take on Clint Barton that places him in his most challenging situation and then begins to strip away his skill by having him slowly go blind.
Hawkeye is just trying to survive and also get revenge for the death of the other Avengers, who all died many years before. He and Old Man Logan make for a great, grizzly old duo that could potentially appear in some form in the MCU at some point.
Avengers: The Children's Crusade #5
Kate Bishop plays a key role as Hawkeye in a storyline that will almost certainly be adapted into the MCU in some way in the future. Avengers: The Children's Crusade #5 brings to a close a major storyline in which Wiccan and Speed, the resurrected sons of the Scarlet Witch, search for their mother along with Kate and the other Young Avengers.
Though Kate doesn't play a major role in the story, she features heavily in the final battle, and the ongoing arc of Billy and Tommy Maximoff and is clearly going to be a factor in the MCU as all of these characters coalesce and the MCU builds toward the Young Avengers.
Hawkeye: Freefall #6
One of the darkest versions of Hawkeye also emerges in the 2010s. Hawkeye: Freefall #6 is one of the best issues of the decade for being the final battle between Clint Barton and the supervillain Bullseye, who has taken on the guise of Hawkeye.
The two characters fight it out in a train yard, using all their deadly skills and talents against each other. Clint Barton prevails and takes back the mantle of Hawkeye after Bullseye took it as part of the Dark Avengers led by Norman Osborn.
What If? Dark Reign
Clint Barton started out as a villain in his earliest appearances in Marvel Comics. What If? Dark Reign presents an alternate outcome on Norman Osborn's insidious administration of the Avengers, where Clint Barton kills him and becomes a fugitive. It's a great issue that puts his skills as a spy and fighter to use against the people he swore to protect.
He's helped out by Mockingbird, who has been his wife and partner in Earth-616 continuity and is one of the most important spies in the Marvel Universe. It's a dark issue that doesn't end well for Clint but makes for a great story.
Old Man Logan #3
Kate Bishop has her encounter with Old Man Logan in Old Man Logan #3, and it makes for one of her best comic issues of the 2010s. Kate's trademark wit and humor come to the fore as she deals with Logan, who spends a fair amount of time chilling on Clint's couch.
Logan has come through to her reality via the 2015 Secret Wars events that collapse all realities. She helps him hunt Mysterio, one of Spider-Man's best villains, but who is responsible for the deaths of the X-Men in this Logan's reality.
Civil War II #3
Civil War II #3 represents one of the most significant moments for Clint Barton in the 2010s when he kills Bruce Banner. Fearing he will turn into the Hulk and go on a destructive rampage killing all superheroes, Clint shoots him with a gamma-laced arrow.
Clint is then imprisoned and put on trial, going through one of his greatest ordeals in the comics. He's acquitted in the end, but despite Banner's eventual resurrection, it alienates him from many heroes, including Kate Bishop.
Widowmaker #1
One of Hawkeye's closest relationships in the comics and MCU is to Black Widow, and that connection gets explored in Widowmaker #1. It's an action-packed story focusing on Clint, Natasha, and Mockingbird that could potentially have some impact on the MCU as they are all hunting a new Ronin.
Depending on how events develop in the MCU, it's possible that Clint could team up with his wife Laura, who seems to have some background in the spy game in the Hawkeye series, to track down a new Ronin in the MCU.
West Coast Avengers #1
Clint Barton led the first version of the West Coast Avengers in the 1980s and in 2018, Kate Bishop gets her turn in the funny and unusual West Coast Avengers #1. The issue provides one of the lighter moments for both Kate and Clint in the 2010s as they face an invasion of land sharks.
The issue is great for Kate for a number of reasons, including developing her character and skills as a leader for the first time. She pulls together a disparate and goofy team including Gwenpool and makes them work.
Little Hits
Hawkeye #1, written by Matt Fraction and drawn by David Aja, begins the "Little Hits" storyline, which brings Clint and Kate together against the Tracksuit Mafia. It also represents arguably the apex of Hawkeye's journey in the comics, with humor, action, and iconic moments that have now influenced the MCU.
The difficult friendship between Clint and Kate provides for some of their best moments in the comics, and the Tracksuit Mafia (called the Tracksuit Draculas in the comic) provides some of the funniest scenes in the entire decade of Marvel Comics.
Pizza Dog
Aja's unique visual style created a lot of iconic imagery for the Hawkeye series, and in issue #11, it reached its peak. Both Aja and Matt Fraction won Eisner and Harvey Awards for the astounding "Pizza Dog" issue, in which Lucky the dog narrates the entire story from his point of view.
Using visual signifiers in place of most dialogue, Lucky tries to warn Clint and Kate about the bad guys and eventually becomes the hero of his own story. It's one of the most inventive and rewarding comic book issues of any decade.